A Mended Heart
by sherekhanlover911
Summary: On a trip to the man-village to exact vengeance on Mowgli, Shere Khan meets a lovely tigress who mends his broken heart and forever changes his life. But evil lurks and a jealous female plots to kill this tigress before Shere Khan can fall in love with her. Story is way better than summary.
1. Chapter 1

Shere Khan walked through the jungle, growling and mumbling to himself as he did. He had just escaped the lava pit and was on his way to the man-village to exact his revenge on Mowgli. Shere Khan was outside the gate of the man-village when he was suddenly tackled by a large figure. When he regained his composure, he growled lowly and turned to see who had tackled him. A tigress stood there baring her teeth at him. His eyes widened. Even though she attacked him, she was truly stunning. The moon shown down on her golden pelt, and her eyes were like the waves of the ocean on a dark, stormy night.

Shere Khan put on a charming smile. "Hello, my dear."

She stared at him for a moment, looking him up and down. After a few minutes she spoke up. "I'm not your dear. I am here to protect this man-village. It is my duty."

Shere Khan chuckled and circled her. "Then you must not know who I am. I am Shere Khan, the fearsome tiger of the jungle. I come here tonight to have my rightful revenge on a young man-cub named Mowgli, who tied a burning branch to my tail and humiliated me. Not only that, but he trapped me in the head of a statue inside a lava pit."

"Yes, I know," the female said with a small smile.

"What do you mean that you know?" He stared at her quizzically.

"Mowgli has told me and the villagers of you. Not only has he done bad to you, but you have done bad to him. You accused him of being like other men; men that are hunters and kill for pleasure. Mowgli is far from that. He loves the jungle and cherishes the creatures which dwell there."

"Then why did he tie a burning branch to my tail," asked Shere Khan with a smirk, thinking he was victorious in their dispute.

"He was defending himself. The same reason you tried to kill him."

Shere Khan scoffed. "I was in no way defending myself."

"Yes you were," she protested. "You don't trust man. You fear their guns and fire. In a way, you were protecting yourself from man's harm. You thought Mowgli would grow to become a man; a hunter. You feared for your life, so you tried to kill Mowgli before he could kill you."

Shere Khan remained silent. This female was telling him something he refused to admit to himself. He looked her in the eye. "What is your name?"

She was hesitant and first, but then said, "My name is Esme."

"Esme," he muttered to himself. "Well Esme, it seems as though you know me quite a bit, but you still don't know everything about me. You do not know what I have been through. I saw with my own eyes as a cub, my mother be killed and skinned by a group of men. I saw her suffer through every wound, every gunshot, and every drop of blood that spilled from her body. From that day forth I swore that I would kill every man who trespassed into my jungle. Because my mother was innocent, may the man who is not innocent shed twice the bloodshed than he who is not guilty of crime."

"Shere Khan, I…"

"You don't understand," he said softly. "I loved my mother with all my heart. She never did anything wrong to deserve the slow and painful death she endured." A few tears escaped his eyes and trickled down his face.

"I'm so sorry Shere Khan. It must've been so hard for you to watch your mother go through that. But you must know that I do understand. I lost my father to a group of hunters when I was just a newborn. He died protecting me and my mother. My eyes and ears were not open, so I did not witness the fatal event. You, however, were old enough to see and hear everything that was going on. It was probably traumatizing, especially for a cub." She nuzzled him under his chin. Shere Khan did not pull away; He relaxed into the touch and nuzzled her too.

"I still have nightmares of my mother's death. I grew up believing that all men were murderous and evil. And when I heard of Mowlgi's presence in the jungle, I saw a threat. I was afraid that he'd grow to become a man that would wreck havoc on the jungle. I feared he would someday acquire man's gun and man's fire." He paused for a moment. "Why….why am I telling you this? I'm basically pouring my heart out to you. Yet, I feel somewhat comfortable."

"Sometimes it just feels better to talk about it with someone." Esme looked up at him. "With someone you trust."

"But...I've just met you. How could you possibly gain my trust so quickly?"

"Maybe it's because I'm a female," she said playfully. Shere Khan chuckled softly.

"Perhaps it's because you're the only one who's ever listened; the only one who's ever cared."

Esme looked down at her paws. "And perhaps there's something more," she murmured to herself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely positively positive." She slapped her forehead with her paw.

"Oh really?" he smirked. "Because it sounded like you said that perhaps there's something more."

She blushed heavily and groaned. "Fine. I _did_ say that."

"What did you mean by that?" Shere Khan already knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her admit it.

"I um….it means that...um….it means…." She stuttered through every word before Shere Khan pushed her on her back and stood on top of her. She gulped.

"Maybe this is what you meant." He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Esme's eyes widened. Her paws pounded against his chest in an effort to push him off of her, but he was too strong. But then her eyes closed dreamily and she kissed him back. She could feel Shere Khan smirk through the kiss. It seemed like their special moment lasted forever before a man opened his door and saw them.

**Okay, so this is another story that I'm writing. I know that I'm already writing a story called "The Jungle Book 3: Shere Khan Returns," but I just couldn't resist. If I continue this, it'll probably interfere with my frequency of updating my other Jungle Book story. I'll try to make it work, though. Please leave a comment and suggestions are welcome. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Mended Heart**

Chapter 2:

"Tiger! Tiger!" the man yelled. Immediately Esme broke the kiss and pushed Shere Khan off of her.

"You have to go Shere Khan!" she exclaimed frantically. She turned and saw a group of men with torches and spears running their way. "Now! Hurry!"

Shere Khan and Esme ran in the direction of the broken piece of fence, but Shere Khan turned around and looked into Esme's eyes. "Will I ever see you again?"

Esme sighed. "We'll see. If the villagers find out that I didn't sound the alarm, I could be kicked out – or worse." She gave him one last kiss before she took off towards the group of men. Shere Khan looked after her before he jumped over the fence and hid in the tall grass.

"Esme!" the leader cried out. "Where did he go?"

"I saw them sir!" another man said. "I heard some strange noises near the village gate. When I opened my door, the other tiger was on top of Esme, and they appeared to be in the middle of some sort of kiss. I also saw her lead him to safety."

Esme growled. The man, whose name was Amish, had it out for Esme ever since she was taken into the man village. He would always be praised for protecting the villagers, but when she came along the spotlight was on her. Since then, she was proclaimed the loyal protector of the man village, and Amish was jealous and forever tried to find a reason to get her in trouble. Now, he finally managed to do so. All eyes were on Esme.

"Esme," said the man. "Is this true?"

Esme bowed her head in shame and whimpered.

The man sighed. "I'm sorry girl. But you cannot stay here any longer." He led her to the village gate. Esme looked up at him with saddened eyes. "It is either this or death, Esme. Which will you chose?" She looked into the jungle, her eyes fixed on a striped figure. She ran off quickly, hoping it was Shere Khan. When she was hidden thick in the foliage, she approached the creature with caution. Shere Khan walked out of a bush.

"I'm sorry," he said sadly.

"It's alright. It was inevitable."

"No…it wasn't. It's my fault this has happened."

Esme decided to lighten the mood. "Yeah, it really was your fault. You're a screw up for sure." She smiled slyly.

Shere Khan raised a brow and smirked. "Oh really?"

"Totally."

"I guess that since you kissed me you must find that attractive."

Esme laughed sweetly.

"Come on," Shere Khan said as he walked off.

"Where are we going?"

"You need some place to stay. You can stay in my territory if you like."

"Thank you Shere Khan. But are you sure I won't be a bother?"

Shere Khan scoffed. "I very much doubt that you'd be a bother."

"Alright then."

The two tigers set off for Shere Khan's territory, unaware they were being watched.

"This can't be happening!" said the unknown creature to herself. She clawed into the branch she was perched on. "He's supposed to be mine! Mine I say! No! This new female will not steal his heart! I will kill her before she can steal him from me!" She ran off, jumping from tree to tree as she plotted her evil plans.

After about an hour or two, Shere Khan and Esme approached a stone wall covered with moss.

"You live on a stone wall?" Esme said as she tilted her head.

Shere Khan chuckled. He placed a paw on spot completely covered in moss and a second paw on another spot with no moss at all. Esme jumped back as the stone wall moved, revealing a long, dark tunnel.

"Follow me," said Shere Khan.

It was hard to see in the tunnel. Bats were hanging upside-down on the ceiling. Ever once in a while, they'd fly down and startle Esme. Shere Khan stayed close by her so she could feel more secure. After almost half an hour of walking through the tunnel, they reached the most beautiful piece of land Esme had ever seen. There was a large structure that looked like an ancient palace. It was entirely made gold, silver, and precious jewels. It was five stories high. There were many large statues on the outside of the outside of the palace. Some were elephants, and others were tigers and panthers. Esme's ears twitched as she heard rushing water. She looked to her left and saw a huge waterfall with crystal clear water. There were large stones that would lead to the very top of the mountain where a large river ran through the land. When she looked closer, there seemed to be a cave behind the waterfall.

"Oh my gosh! Is this really where you live?"

Shere Khan smiled and nodded. He motioned his head in the direction of the falls. "You see that cave behind the water?"

"Yes."

"That's where my den is."

"Wow! So you don't live in that palace?"

"No. That's mainly part of the beauty of this place. It's also where I store most of the _treasures _I find on hunts or patrols. I'll show you."

Shere Khan led Esme into the palace. In the very center of the room stood an entire skeleton of an Indian elephant. It still had its tusks, which were around 10 feet long. The skeleton itself was about thirteen feet tall and twenty-three feet long. She could see some sort of symbols inscribed on its tusks. She recognized them as the marks humans made as a branding symbol. They could also be a sort of special design if the elephant belonged to royalty.

"This is amazing! And we've barely just entered into here!"

Shere Khan nodded. "And there's plenty more to see. Let me show you something very special that I know you're just going to love." He led her up to the very top of the palace where there was a type of balcony. From there, you could see all of the land. Esme gasped. The scenery was magnificent! From the mountains in the distance, she could see snow at their tops. When she looked down, though, she felt very dizzy and nearly fell off the balcony. Shere Khan caught her in time and held her close to his chest. Esme blushed heavily, but she stayed right there. Her head was telling her to move, but she seemed to be paralyzed. Shere Khan looked down at her and smirked. "Enjoying this babe?" Esme's heart skipped a beat as she struggled to find the right words.

"I um….well….uhh. Kind of?" she squeaked. She was ready for him to laugh at her, but instead he chuckled and gave her a sweet kiss. She sighed dreamily and nuzzled him. She got a fun idea and eyed Shere Khan seductively. "Hey, Khannie? You ever thought about mating?" A lecherous grin spread across Shere Khan's face.

"With you – definitely." He nipped at her neck and up to her ears. She giggled and circled him.

"Here kitty kitty," she sang as she raised her rear in the air. Shere Khan could feel his erection growing as he became hypnotized by her seductiveness. He approached her, his man-hood now fully erect as he got "in position." Just as he was about to insert himself into her, a loud roar pierced the air, and a leopardess jumped onto the balcony.

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! I need a name for this jealous female. Anyone have some ideas? Please review and suggestions are welcome. :)


	3. Leaving FanFiction

Sadly, I am not going to be able to complete my stories. Family issues have come up and I wanted to do some extra studying over the summer. If anyone wants to adopt this story, my other, or both, please leave a comment or PM me. I will miss this site and writing fanfiction. :(


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